


You Can't Change the World if You Don't Know What's Wrong With it in the First Place

by Jubokko



Category: Naruto
Genre: Academy, And Iruka Senses Him, But the Class is Clearly More Interested in the Snowball Fight, Discord: Umino Hours, Established Relationship, Fluff, Found Family, Iruka Explaining Konoha Politics, Kakashi Spies Outside the Academy, M/M, No Beta We Die Like Ninja, Umino Hours Winter Bingo, a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28573725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jubokko/pseuds/Jubokko
Summary: Naruto slowly dragged his notes off the desk and stuffed them into his bag. “I just can’t remember them all…”“I have a challenge for you.” Iruka leaned forward and smiled. “If you can get your studies done by tomorrow afternoon, I’ll take you ice-fishing out on the bay on Sunday when I finish work. Kakashi might even come if he’s available.”“Oh really? You’d do that?” Naruto punched the air. “I’ll study hard and get it done, Iruka-sensei!”Iruka raised a hand in a soothing gesture.“Just remember your goal. You can’t change the world if you don’t know what’s wrong with it in the first place. Your studies count, so make sure to pay attention. I can teach you in your classes and help when you run into trouble—but the rest, that’s onyou.”After a moment of hesitation, Naruto nodded.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90
Collections: The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020





	You Can't Change the World if You Don't Know What's Wrong With it in the First Place

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This is for the Umino Hours Winter Bingo. The prompt: snowball fight. Very short, drabble-type fic :3
> 
> Inspired by something my professor said today during class!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Kakashi quietly watched his partner from the branches of a tall oak tree. The chill, winter wind whipped around him, biting through his thick uniform layers and whispering about the padded, metal plates of his winter-issue, ANBU vest. 

A snowball fight raged beneath him, and, as Kakashi watched the classroom through the window, it seemed that even Umino Iruka—for all his skill and experience—was struggling to wrangle the attention of the students as he went over their coursework. Kakashi certainly didn’t need to be close in order to see the longing looks on the kids’ faces, and sense the constant fidgeting as they collectively itched to join the outdoor activities. 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, and carefully pushed chakra into his ears, heightening his sensitivity. All the while, he remained carefully aware of his jutsu cloak, the thin layer of energy that masked him from detection. 

The Academy window was open, despite the cold outside. It seemed illogical, but anyone who had ever studied in that building would say it was a necessity. The inner classrooms froze while the outer ones boiled—and that was that. 

“There are two main differences between the Sand and Konoha’s political structures,” Iruka was explaining, voice even. He tapped a long ruler against the classroom’s blackboard—that Kakashi could not see, but knew was there. 

“As you can see here, they have one main court and three smaller governing bodies, each one made up of elected officials from the heads of the dominant clans. Make sure to note that each clan is given _one_ official, and they are drawn by region.” 

Kakashi felt a grin creep onto his face.

Politics. This was Iruka’s favorite subject to teach. The man had some kind of mysterious affinity to the topic—one that Kakashi admired a great deal. It was helpful, particularly when Kakashi’s job began to get a bit… _messy_ in that department. 

“What about the people without a clan?” One of the students asked—one of the few that seemed to be paying attention, at least. 

The boy was seated near the back of the class, just barely within Kakashi’s view, his features subtly distorted through the window. On both sides, sat students that clearly didn’t give two shits about the lecture. Even as Kakashi watched, the troublemakers snickered.  
  


Iruka smiled dangerously, and Kakashi felt pride expand in his chest. His partner had a short fuse for many things, and an endless amount of patience for others. This time, however, the man was clearly biding his time. 

“You will learn more about this in the spring, before your genin exams,” Iruka replied. “The short answer is that there is a separate governing body that deals with the civilian population. It does not have the same power structure and is much smaller—that does _not_ make it any less important—”

“Awww, c’mon. Can we finish this already?” A loud complaint filled the air, emanating from a point just out of Kakashi’s view.   
  


Kakashi huffed softly, shaking his head. He knew exactly who _that_ was. 

Iruka lowered his ruler and sighed. “Naruto, please stay after class for a moment.” 

“But—” 

“As for the rest of you, this is where we will end today’s lesson. I hope you all have a good weekend.” 

A wave of commotion and excitement followed Iruka’s words, only to die down again as the man raised his voice. 

“Oh, and, by the way, there _will_ be a quiz over this on Monday. Study your notes from today and make sure to submit them once you arrive in the morning. Content covered in today’s class is reviewed in chapter seven. Dismissed.” 

Grumbles came in response to the announcement, and Kakashi grinned. Evil, that man was, but also fair. 

As the class exited from the room, Kakashi turned his attention to the blond-haired pre-genin that pouted across from Iruka’s desk. 

“Iruka-sensei, why—” 

“You want to be Hokage, right Naruto?” The man interrupted, folding his arms. 

Naruto visibly brightened. “Yeah! I’ll make it one day, you’ll see!” 

“Let me see your notes.” 

“Ahh—Sensei—I…” Naruto seemed to deflate on the spot. Under Iruka’s glare, he slowly withdrew a stack of messy papers. 

Iruka took them and rifled through the badly-crumpled notes. Kakashi could see the lines on his forehead deepen with every passing moment. Finally, the man set the papers down onto the desk and slid them back toward the boy. 

“Look, I’ll put it this way.” Iruka laced his fingers together. “You want to be Hokage. That is a position of _political_ importance and power. You need to know these systems down the smallest details. Today, we covered the _basics_ on Suna, Konoha, and the Mist. It’s the very beginning of what you’ll need to know in order to be a leader.” 

Naruto slowly dragged his notes off the desk and stuffed them into his bag. “I just can’t remember them all…” 

“I have a challenge for you.” Iruka leaned forward. “If you can get your studies done by tomorrow afternoon, I’ll take you ice-fishing out on the bay on Sunday when I finish work. Kakashi might even come if he’s available.”

“Oh really? You’d do that?” Naruto punched the air. “I’ll study hard and get it done, Iruka-sensei!”   
  


Iruka raised a hand in a soothing gesture.

“Just remember your goal. You can’t change the world if you don’t know what’s wrong with it in the first place. Your studies count, so make sure to pay attention. I can teach you in your classes and help when you run into trouble—but the rest, that’s on _you._ ” 

After a moment of hesitation, Naruto nodded.

Iruka reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair, then cocked his head to one side, eyes narrowing. Slowly, the man rose from his desk and made his way to the window, directing his gaze upwards.

“Kashi, you do know I can sense you up there, right? I have a shift at the mission desk in a half-hour, you might as well walk Naruto home if you’re not on duty.”   
  


Kakashi couldn’t help the grin that overtook his expression. 

Busted. 

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to him, though. Iruka was a sensory-type, after all. 

With a dramatic sigh, Kakashi made the hand signals to summon a henge to conceal his ANBU uniform, before dropping down from the tree. 

A few students who were still throwing snowballs, froze, eyes going wide as they watched him slowly make his way to the window. 

Iruka grinned through the glass.   
  


Naruto’s face lit up and he raced to the windowsill, practically vibrating from excitement. “Did you hear? We’re going ice-fishing!” 

Kakashi nodded and offered a smile. “Alright, Naruto, sounds like you’ve got some work to do. Let’s head home.” 

The overexcited Jinchūriki whooped and tossed the window the rest of the way open before flinging himself through. Kakashi barely managed to dodge as Naruto cannonballed into a nearby snowbank, sending snow flying in all directions. 

“Ayy!” Iruka stuck his head out the window. “Naruto! Stop doing that! Kakashi—you’re a terrible influence, I swear—” 

Kakashi interrupted the sensei with a peck on the cheek. Saluting, he took off after Naruto, who had already retreated to the other side of the Academy courtyard. 

“See you at dinner!”

**Author's Note:**

> My bingo board can be seen [here](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/786336813806518283/796073936521658448/image0.jpg).
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!  
> All comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! ✨  
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://akumu-jubokko.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
